11/13/2017 – Talent shows such as Britain’s Got Talent, now exported to many other countries, American Idol, and so many others are now staples of contemporary TV, but it takes a country such as Russia to feature such a show with winning performances by chess players playing chess! But not only chess, of course. Enjoy this look at "Amazing People". | Photo: WeiT Media

11/12/2017 – Day 4 featured impressive comebacks from both Caruana and So, who won their respective matches. Meanwhile Nakamura had locked up his $60,000 winner's prize already with nine games to spare! Carlsen put the the screws to Ding in the Game 20 portion of their match and has a sizeable lead. Three matches are in the books but the fourth continues Monday and Tuesday in Saint Louis, USA. Games begin at 20:00 CET (1 pm in Saint Louis) Monday, and at 18:00 CET (11 am in Saint Louis) on Tuesday.

11/12/2017 – When is chess the most enjoyable? When you win! But computers have become far too strong and won't allow their human owners that satisfaction. Until now. The latest iteration of our flagship program has advanced handicap features that make it behave like an average human player. At the same time it is a full-blooded trainer that will teach you how to think – in grandmasterly style. Fritz 16 also comes with other very useful functions, like voice recognition, spell checking, and much more. It also has a completely overhauled navigation. Take a look.

11/12/2017 – It’s never an easy thing to be the rating favourite in a field where the 2nd seed is a 100 points below and the 4th seed, almost 200 points. Nigel Short was in such a scenario where there was a lot to lose and little to gain, in terms of Elo and reputation. However, he is no stranger to being in such a position. Having steamrolled through Bunratty Masters and Bangkok Open earlier this year, he just cruised through the field at the Negros International Open in Bacolod last month, to win the event one point clear. Srinath Narayanan reports. | Photo: Piaya Network Facebook page

11/12/2017 – Jon looks at a pair of exciting if blunderful games from an enthusiastic Chilean amateur. Want Jon to take a look at your games? Send them in, and if selected, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

11/11/2017 – Ding Liren, the Chinese number one and participant in the Candidates Tournament 2018 in Berlin, enjoys the reputation of being a solid positional player. But in round 18 of the Yingmei Cup — the Chinese Team Championship — he showed that he is also a world class attacking player by demolishing Bai Jinshi with Black in one of the most beautiful and most spectacular games of the year. Grandmasters Daniel King and Rustam Kasimdzhanov both had a closer look. Enjoy! And tell us about your favourite games of 2017. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

11/7/2017 – Azerbaijan secured the European Team Championship gold on Monday with a draw against Ukraine. The Azerbaijani team scored a critical win over top-seeded Russia in Round 8, such that even a last round win for the Russians over Germany was only good enough for the silver medal. Ukraine, the third seed going in, took the bronze. In the European Women’s Team Championship, the favourites Russia, clinched gold with a round to spare, leaving Georgia and Ukraine battling for silver and bronze. In the end they finished exactly according to their starting rank. Fourth seed Poland was upset by ninth seed Romania and so just missed out on a medal. Analysis by IM Irene Sukandar | Photo: EuroTeams2017.com

11/6/2017 – In chess the goal of the game is to checkmate the enemy king. However, most chess games are not decided by elegant mating attacks but because one side is materially superior. You first take the pieces of the opponent, then you mate. Sacrifices suspend these brutal rules of materialism, that makes them so enchanting. And some sacrifices seem to be almost magical.

11/6/2017 – In this Simon Says we take look at the latest developments in the French Defence. Watch live from 18:00 CEST (12 Noon EDT).

11/6/2017 – The Women's event gold goes to Russia for the second straight year as they blanked Turkey 4 : 0 to clinch with a round to spare. The silver and bronze medal battle is between Georgia, Poland, Ukraine and Armenia. IM Irene Sukandar looks at key moments from Round 8. | Photo: EuroTeams2017.com

11/6/2017 – Azerbaijan beat Russia in Round 8, leaving the tournament to be decided in the final round with both teams plus Ukraine vying for the title. Rauf Mamedov has a remarkable 7½ out of 8 games and has broken 2700 for the first time. Azerbaijan takes a small lead into their match with Ukraine, Germany rocketed to fourth with wins over Armenia and Israel, and will face Russia. GM Daniel Fernandez and IM Lawrence Trent annotate the best games from Rounds 6-8. | Photo: EuroTeams2017.com

11/6/2017 – Pieces are tossed in like fuel to burning fire, a king’s pawn shelter ripped apart. One player sees bone-chilling nightmares; his opponent couldn’t hold his thumping heart. More pieces come marauding in, hacking off every defender. The king begins running for his life; in the end, it’s caught en prise. An aesthetic murder is engineered. It’s checkmate! For those romantics who crave for such excitement in their chess games, Robert Ris has selected examples from his professional coaching practice with the aim of helping them understand the method behind what seems madness. | Graphic: 4fingerprodigy